VisitBritain was formed by the merger of the English Tourism Council and the British Tourist Authority.  It is legally constituted as the British Tourist Authority under the Development of Tourism Act 1969.

The organisation was created on 1st April 2003 to market Britain to the rest of the world economy.  VisitBritain’s vision is to “lead the world to Britain” and the mission is to build the value of tourism to all the British nations.   In 2009, VisitEngland was formed to support, develop and market England's tourism industry.

VisitBritain are funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through a three-year funding agreement which states the level of funding that the Government will make available and sets performance targets each year.  Further information on VisitBritain’s role, strategies and market intelligence can be found from their website: www.visitbritain.org